The design was chosen after a competition won by architects Jeffrey Howlett and Don Bailey.

Don Bailey, back in Perth to celebrate the building's 50th birthday, said he thinks one of the reasons the design won was the dual buildings - one an office tower, the other a performance space.

"The winning design for the competition was actually a twosome - it was an administration building and behind it was a multipurpose building," he said.

"If you look at the model it's like a knife and fork, they go together."

Only the administration tower, Council House, was constructed and Howlett and Bailey took their ideas for the council auditorium building and put them into the design for Perth Concert Hall, which was completed in 1972.

Don Bailey says Council House was built at great speed as it needed to be finished in time to to entertain the dignitaries coming to the British Empire and Commonwealth games in 1962.

"We had eighteen months from start to finish."

"We had to design it as we went. It was fast track building and you filled in the details just ahead of the builder."

"It has a steel frame, which goes together like meccano and we used asbestos, which was state of the art at the time."

"The Duke of Edinburgh came to the games and he did a sort of dummy run opening and he was welcomed there in style."

"It was all beautifully fitted out on the top floors - the rest of it was just an empty shell with venetian blinds hiding the vacant interior."

The building was properly completed and offically opened by Queen Elizabeth II on March 25, 1963.

Almost immediately Council House had its detractors, who decried its modernist style.

Phillip Achurch said at the time, "I think it is a very ugly building. To me it has no heritage value and I think it should be demolished as quickly as it can."

Don Bailey is philosophical about the critics.

"There are people with conservative views and they see architecture as stuff that was built before the twentieth century. They like the old stuff because they feel comfortable with it."

"It might have been too modern for Perth but things were happening in the Eastern states."

In the early 90s the building did come close to demolition, after the City of Perth was broken into four smaller councils and the new Perth city council was offered funding to move across the road into the old treasury building.

In the end, a campaign by the WA Royal Australian Institute of Architects and members of public saved the building, as did the discovery that it would not be as expensive to refurbish as first thought.

Between 1997 and 1999 the building was closed, the asbestos insulation was stripped out, the lifts were upgraded and a new underground car park was constructed.

In 1997 then Heritage Minister Graham Kierath refused to place the building on the WA Register of Heritage Places, despite recommendations from the Heritage Council and the National Trust.

It was heritage listed in 2005, with the office of State Heritage describing it as "is a rare intact example of an early 1960s modernist office building in Perth."

In recent years there has been a reassessment of the value of Council House, and the building is now illuminated at night by a multi-coloured light show.

The City of Perth has produced a freebook and exhibition to mark the building's 50th anniversary, exploring the history of Council House, displaying the original architectural plans, photographs of its construction and the opening.

Both the book and exhibition are available at Ground floor, Council House, 27 St Georges Terrace, Perth, 25 March - 24 May, 9am - 5pm Monday - Friday (excluding public holidays).